Method and apparatus for mining



Flwmll 1977995583 Oct. 28, 1 930.

G. R. LANG METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR- HIRING Filed Oct 5, 1927 l 12 5 '7I p Patented Oct. 28, 1930 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR MINING Application filed October 5, 1927. Serial170.224.,150.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for mining and moreparticularly to a method and apparatus for dislodging material to bemined from the mine working face. The invention is particularlyapplicable to use in coal mines of the type employing a substantiallyhorizontal entry or working shaft and a substantially vertical workingface, although it is by no means limited to a mine of this type. Theinvention will be described as applied in a present preferred embodimentto the mining of coal in a mine of the type above mentioned, it beingunderstood that the invention may be otherwise variously embodied withinthe scope of the claims appended hereto.

In the mining of coal it is the usual practice to undercut the workingface preparatory to shooting the coal,'that is, before setting ofl thecharge of powder or dynamite to loosen the coal in the working face.Such an undercut is usually made at the floor of the mine and is of aheight of from four to six inches and a longitudinal depth ofapproximately six feet. The purpose of the undercut is to provide aspace into which the shot coal may be projected when it is loosened bythe explosion of the charge.

It has been found that when the coal to be mined is shot straight downupon the undercut, it is quite firmly packed against the floor of themine, necessitating considerable loosening subsequent to the shot beforethe coal can be loaded into the conveyor or mine car. This entailsadditional labor and time and is consequently expensive.

According to the present invention I provide for the elimination of atleast a substantial part of the loosening operation subsequent toshooting by inserting into the undercut a dislodging means onto whichthe shot coal is projected so that after the charge has been explodedthe dislodger may be with drawn from the working face, pulling with it aquantity of the projected coal and serving to loosen the coal above sothat practically no work other than the withdrawing of the dislodger isnecessary subsequent to shooting before loading the coal into theconveyor or mine car. I further provide a flexible dislodging meansagainst which the shot coal is adapted to be projected and which may beWithdrawn to progressively dislodge successive portions of the coal asit is drawn out. This is of advantage in that it is not necessary towithdraw the dislodger while the portion thereof upon which the tensionis applied supports any great proportion of the weight of the projectedcoal. Means are also provided on the dislodger having a portion ofconsiderable area as compared with that of the body of the dislodger forengaging with and dragging out lumps of coal. The dislodging means maybe withdrawn by any suitable source of power, such as a mining machineprovided with a rotatable element upon which the dislodger is wound.

The nature of the invention will be understood with reference to theaccompanying drawings showing the present preferred embodiment, whereinFig. 1 is a horizontal cross section through a mine entry looking towardthe floor thereof and showing my invention in use;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section through the mine entry shown in Fig.1; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view to enlarged scale of one form of draggingmeans adapted for use with the dislodger.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a mine entryhaving a floor 2, side walls 3, ceiling 4 and working face 5. The usualundercut 6 is provided in the working face and is shown as beingadjacent the mine floor, although such undercut may be provided at anydesired height above the floor. Lying upon the base of the undercut anddisposed in convolutions as shown in Fig. 1 is a dislodging means 7illustrated as comprising a chain. The chain may be disposed in anydesired manner in the undercut, it being shown in the drawings as in twoseries of convolutions, one on each side of the entry. The convolutionsbegin at the point where the dislodging means enters the working faceand extend from that point rearwardly and transversely of the entry. Thedislodger may comprise a cable, rope, or any other suitable means.

One or more holes 8 are drilled in the working face for the reception ofthe explosive charge 9. A track 10 is provided upon which a mine car 11is adapted to be rolled into the entry for carrying out the coal. Anysuitable means such as a loading machine 12 may be used to load the coalinto the mine car. The loading machine as shown in the drawings restsdirectly upon the mine floor and is adapted to be moved to any desiredposition laterally or angularly in the entry.

The loading machine 12 is provided with a. shaft 13 upon which ismounted for rotation a pair of drums 1 At the end of the loader disposednearest the working face is a pair of anti-friction bearing members 15.The dislodger 7 is adapted to be wound up upon either of the drums 14and to engage the anti-friction bearing members when it is necessarythat the dislodger pass around a corner of the loading machine.

After the dislodger has been laid in place in the undercut as abovedescribed, the charge 9 is exploded and the coal in the working faceprojected downwardly against the dis lodger. As above stated, suchprojection of the coal causes it to become rather tightly packed againstthe mine floor. The office of the dislodger is to remove and loosen theprojected coal upon withdrawal thereof from the working face. Thedislodgers is withdrawn from beneath the projected coal by fastening itsend to one of the drums 14 and causing rotation of the shaft 13 to windup the dislodger on the drum. The coal nearest the mine floor will bedrawn outwardly by the dislodger and toward the loading machine. Thatabove, will fall down loosely in the space left by removal of thedislodger and the coal dragged out along with it, thus leaving the coalat the working face in substantially loose condition and easy to handle.

In order to provide a considerable bearing surface on the dislodger forlumps of coal projected thereagainst, I provide a number of draggingelements 16 each comprising a dragging head 17 and means 18 such as ahook for connecting the dragging element to the dislodger. Thesedragging elements are preferably flexibly connected to the dislodger sothat when the dislodger assumes various positions during its withdrawalthe dragging elements will always dispose themselves so that the head 17of each will be most effective for dragging out lumps of coal. Thedragging elements may be omitted if desired.

I wish it distinctly understood that the dislodger 7 may be disposed inany desired manner in the undercut. There is an infinite number ofvariations which may be used in placing the dislodger in order to causethe removal of the coal upon withdrawal thereof. For instance, it may bedisposed in convolntions extending substantially transverse ly of theentry, in which case the coal is dragged generally from one side towardthe other. I prefer, however, to dispose the dislodger in convolutionsin a manner somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings sothat the successive eonvolutions thereof will be effective forprogressively dislodging successive portions of the projected coal asthe dislodger is Withdrawn. This is a feature of the method of thepresent invention, by providing for the progressive dislodg ing ofsuccessive portions of the projected coal it is not necessary to pullthe dislodger from beneath the entire weight of the coal in the workingface at one time. Furthermore, after a layer of coal nearest the outsideof the working face has been removed, it will be much easier for thesuccessive layers behind to be progressively removed. It will be notedthat each successive portion of the coal removed by a convolution of thedislodger upon withdrawal thereof is substantially entirely removed fromthe working face before removal of the succeeding portion is begun.

It will be seen that substantially the whole of a layer of the projectedcoal in the working face may be withdrawn by suitably positioning thedislodger before shooting. This is of great advantage in increasing thetonnage of coal which can be mined in a given period of time, as onlyone withdrawing operation is necessary to remove an entire layer ofcoal, whereas with methods as heretofore practiced several operationswere necessary.

The dislodger may be withdrawn by any suitable means and is not limitedto withdrawal by a mining or loading machine. For instance, its end maybe hitched onto a mine engine and the engine moved alon the track awayfrom the working face. Alternatively, a motor and pulley may be used.The use of the mining machine is particularly advantageous, however, inthat when the coal is packed unusually tight and a force greater thanusual is necessary to withdraw the dis ledger, the end of the miningmachine may be braced against a portion of the working face or against aside wall of the mine in order to provide for a pull greater than thegreatest pull which the mining machine can withstand when merely restingon the floor. The machine may be pulled up to the working face oragainst a side wall of the mine by initiating rotation of the shaft 13,but when it becomes lodged firmly against a portion of the mine it willbe apparent that the machine can move no further and will consequentlybe braced so that the dislodger will be wound up upon the drum.

The word flexible as used in the claims is directed more particularly tothe flexibility which is a property inherent in devices of the nature ofa chain, rope, cable or the like as distinguished from flexibilitybrought about by connecting together a number of long rigid members suchas trays or the like.

I thus provide a method of mining comprising projecting material to bemined against a dislodger and progressively dislodging successiveportions of the projected material by Withdrawing the dislodger. Ifurther provide a mining apparatus comprising a flexible dislodger andmeans for withdrawing the dislodger from a mine working face.

I claim:

1. A method of mining, comprising undercutting, inserting a dislodgersubstantially universally flexible at relatively closely spaced pointslongitudinally thereof, in the undercut, projecting material to be minedagainst the dislodger, and withdrawing the dislodger.

2. A method of mining, comprising projccting in a substantially verticaldirection material to be mined against a dislodger, substantiallyuniversally flexible at relatively closely spaced points longitudinallythereof, and progressively dislodging successive portions of theprojected material by withdrawing the dislodger.

3. A method of mining, comprising projecting material adjacent a mineWorking face against a dislodger comprising sections permanentlyconnected together, and progressively completely dislodging successiveportions of the projected material progressively removed from theworking face by withdrawing the dislodger.

4. A method of mining, comprising insert in g into a mine working face adislodger substantially universally flexible at relatively closelyspaced points longitudinally thereof, and progressively dislodgingsuccessive portions of the material to be mined by withdrawing theflexible dislodger.

5. A method of mining, comprising removing a portion of a mine workingface, inserting into the space thus provided a dislodger substantiallyuniversally flexible at relatively closely spaced points longitudinallythereof, projecting material to be mined against the dislodger, anddislodgingthe projected material by withdrawing the flexible dislodgerpast the working face.

6. A method of mining, comprising projecting material to be minedagainst a dislodger substantially universally flexible at relativelyclosely spaced points longitudinally thereof, and dislodging theprojected material by withdrawing the dislodger through such material.

7 A method of mining, comprising disposing a flexible dislodger in acurved path, projecting material to be mined thereagainst, anddislodging the projected material by Withdrawing and thus straighteningout the dislodger.

8. A method of mining, comprising disposing a dislodger in a curvedpath, projecting material to be mined thereagainst, and

progressively dislodging successive portions of the projected materialby withdrawing and straightening out the dislodger.

9. A method of mining, comprising disposing a flexible dislodger inconvolutions, projecting material to be mined thereagainst, andsuccessively straightening out the convolutions of the dislodger toprogressively dislodge successive portions of the projected material.

10. A method of mining, comprising projecting material to be minedagainst a dislodger substantially universally flexible at relativelyclosely spaced points longitudinally thereof, and dislodgingsubstantially the whole of a layer of such projected material bywithdrawal of the dislodger.

11. A method of mining, comprising projecting in a substantiallyvertical direction against a dislodger disposed in a curve material tobe mined, and dislodging substantially the whole of a horizontal layerof such projected material by withdrawal of the dislodger.

12. A method of mining, comprising projecting material to be minedagainst a dislodger substantially universally flexible at relativelyclosely spaced points longitudinally thereof, and withdrawing thedislodger through substantially the whole of a layer of such projectedmaterial.

13. Mining apparatus, comprising a dislodger substantially universallyflexible at relatively closely spaced points longitudinally thereof, andmeans connected with one end only of the dislodger for withdrawing thedislodger from a mine working face.

14. Mining apparatus, comprising a relatively long, bendablesubstantially unitary non-endless dislodging element, and means forwithdrawing such element from a mine working face.

15. The combination with a mining machine provided with winding means,of a flexible dislodging element adapted to be wound thereon.

16. A dislodging element comprising a flexible body portionsubstantially universally flexible at relatively closely spaced pointsl0n gitudinally thereof, dragging elements on the body portion atintervals and operating means connected with one end only of the bodyportion.

17. A dislodging element comprising a chain free to be disposed in adesired curve, and dragging elements flexibly secured to the chain atintervals.

18. The combination of a relatively long dislodging element free to bedisposed in a desired curve, dragging elements at intervals on thedislodging element, and means for winding up the dislodging element.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE R. LANG.

